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By: NoCamels Team
The British and Israeli ministries responsible for innovation have launched a joint program for scientific collaboration on transformative technologies, with funding of 9 million shekels (£1.8 million).
On the UK side, the program is being run via the British Council in Israel, through the International Science Partnerships Fund at the Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), and on the Israeli side through the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (MOST).
This is the first initiative to support joint research between DSIT and MOST, and offers what the program says is a unique opportunity for researchers from both countries to work together on “mutual priorities.”
Building on a Memorandum of Understanding for increased collaboration on science, innovation and technology signed by Israel and the UK last year, the program will fund three-year collaborative research projects of up to £200,000 (approx. 950,000 shekels) that focus on quantum technologies, AI in drug discovery and food tech.
The first call for proposals for Israeli and UK scientists was recently launched and will close on September 30 of this year.
“The UK and Israel have built a strong relationship on science and technology; the launch of the first UK-Israel bilateral research call marks a significant milestone, elevating the already fruitful collaboration between our research communities,” said British Ambassador to Israel Simon Walters.
“It provides a unique opportunity for top scientists from both nations to develop cutting-edge research in quantum, food tech and artificial intelligence in drug discovery. I’m looking forward to seeing the scientific achievements and growth that will no doubt be generated from this collaboration.”
In other technology related issues, NoCamels.com reported that Israel’s second largest health maintenance organization Maccabi Health Services, which treats more than 2.5 million people nationwide, has selected Ramat Gan-based startup Cynerio to provide cybersecurity for its medical and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
As ransomware attacks become a significant concern for healthcare organizations worldwide, Maccabi Health Services says its adoption of the Cynerio platform in order to protect patient data and maintain uninterrupted healthcare services.
Founded in 2018, Cynerio creates custom solutions for healthcare providers to combine behavior learning with medical workflow analysis to provide full visibility into medical device behavior and activity on the network, detect anomalies, and stop threats in order to ensure patient safety and data protection.
“Advances in healthcare-focused cyber protections have accelerated greatly in the last two years,” said Maccabi’s Vice President of Technology and Head of the Technology Division Kobi Katz.
“After thorough evaluation, it became clear that Cynerio’s technology and team are far ahead of competitors in terms of stopping ransomware, securing medical devices, and ultimately reinforcing our ability to deliver safe, reliable, and high-quality healthcare services,” he said.
“We are proud to have been chosen by the Maccabi Health Services team after their thorough analysis of technologies available,” said Cynerio CEO Leon Lerman.
“Their foresight in adopting best of breed technologies including Cynerio, Azure and Microsoft Sentinel will provide a blueprint for the global healthcare community while enhancing the security posture of the Israeli healthcare landscape.”
On yet another technology issue, NoCamels.com also reported on Sunday that an Israeli startup teaching English language using generative AI has launched an Android version of its virtual tutor app, which was previously only available via Apple’s iOS.
Loora says it has developed the most advanced AI tutor for English, using a specially designed system of language models.
